IB's 'secret operation' to steal and recover the 'holy head' from Hazratbal Dargah, which remains a mystery even after 61 years
The guardian of Hazrat Bal Dargah takes the pilgrims to ‘see the sacred hair’
Article detailsAuthor, Riyaz MasroorEmployment, BBC Urdu, SrinagarDecember , 27, 2024
Pros
1. Intrigue and Mystery:
The unexplained aspects of the operation pique curiosity and create a gripping narrative.
2. Religious Significance:
The story touches upon an emotionally charged subject for many, potentially drawing attention from diverse audiences.
3. Historical Relevance:
Revisiting a historical event with socio-political and cultural significance ensures relevance and interest.
4. Potential for Research:
The story invites deeper exploration of historical records and accounts, which could lead to unique insights or revelations.
5. Wide Audience Appeal:
It combines elements of espionage, history, and religion, appealing to readers of multiple genres.
Cons
1. Sensitivity Issues:
Given the religious significance, presenting the topic inaccurately or insensitively could provoke backlash.
2. Limited Official Information:
Since it’s a classified operation, details might be scarce or speculative, which could challenge credibility.
3. Risk of Misinformation:
Any unverified or dramatized element could harm the story's authenticity and integrity.
4. Polarized Reactions:
The religious and political context may lead to divided opinions, impacting reception.
5. Complex Narration:
Balancing historical facts, mystery, and sentiment may require nuanced storytelling to maintain interest without sensationalism.
The whole of Kashmir was wrapped in a thick layer of severe cold and snow at that time, when on the morning of December 27, 1963, a news spread like wildfire throughout the region.
The door of the ‘special room’ of ‘Asar-e-Sharif Hazrat Bal’, a shrine located on the banks of Srinagar’s world-famous Dal Lake, was found broken and someone had stolen the hair (sacred hair) attributed to the Prophet of Islam.
This was no ordinary theft. This holy hair reached Srinagar in 1700 from Medina via the Middle East and India through a Kashmiri trader and the then Mughal governor Sadiq Khan dedicated a Mughal building in ‘Bagh-e-Sadiq Khan’ near Dal Lake to this ‘holy hair’ and it remained in Srinagar for the next 263 years, i.e. until the day of its theft.
Despite the extreme cold and life frozen by snow, after the news of the theft came out, demonstrations and protest sit-ins started all over Kashmir. The protesters spent entire cold nights on the streets and mourned and the situation became so tense that the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru even said that ‘Kashmir is slipping out of our hands.’
Women present at the shrine of the holy relic at the Hazratbal shrine
The Indian government sent the then Intelligence Agency (IB) chief BN Malik to Srinagar with a team of IB officers to control the situation and within a week, the Indian government claimed that the holy relic had been recovered. But the interesting thing is that despite the passage of 61 years, the ‘thief’ who carried out this act has not been identified till date, despite the fact that dozens of people were kept in jail for years for the purpose of investigation and thousands of alleged suspects were tortured in police stations.
The incident was termed ‘blasphemy’ by Muslims and the protest against it led to the demand for a plebiscite in Kashmir, during which a formal war took place between India and Pakistan in 1965.
Khalid Bashir, a former Kashmiri government official and renowned historian, has tried to connect many links related to this historic theft in his book ‘Kashmir: Shock, Fury, Turmoil’, which contains the background and foreground of this incident.
The religious and political significance of Hazrat Bal
A view of Hazratbal Shrine
For centuries, thousands of people have been visiting the shrine of Hazrat Bal on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the Prophet of Islam and the Urs of other great companions. It is a central shrine for Muslims throughout Jammu and Kashmir.
This shrine has been under the management of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq's family for a long time.
Khalid Bashir writes in his book that in 1939, when there was a disagreement between the then Mirwaiz Maulvi Muhammad Yusuf Shah and the local political leader Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah over converting the 'Muslim Conference' into the 'National Conference', Sheikh Abdullah decided to make this shrine his political center.
In 1943, Sheikh Abdullah, along with hundreds of workers, 'raided' Hazrat Bal and expelled Mirwaiz Yusuf from the shrine and started delivering religious and political speeches here every Friday.
After the partition of India in 1948, after the war between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute, when Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru persuaded the then Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh to accede to India, Sheikh Abdullah was first made the 'Emergency Administrator' and later the first Prime Minister of autonomous Kashmir.
But just five years after becoming Prime Minister, in 1953, Sheikh Abdullah was deposed on charges of involvement in anti-India activities and then sent to jail, and one of his associates, Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad, was made the new Prime Minister.
Author Khalid Bashir, citing eyewitnesses and documents of these political events, has written that for the next ten years, amidst the boom in tourism and the construction of schools and hospitals in Kashmir, the roundup of referendum supporters and a wave of inhuman violence and corruption continued. But overall, the situation in Kashmir remained calm.
He writes that the theft of the holy head in December 1963 ‘revived the dead politics of Kashmir as if Israfil had blown the trumpet.’
The movement to recover the holy head continued for years despite its recovery, as it had now transformed into a demand for a plebiscite in Kashmir.
But who stole the holy head?
There were massive protests in Kashmir after the theft of the holy relic
This question has been a mystery for 61 years. Amidst the strikes and protests, the recovery of the holy relic was announced on the afternoon of January 4, 1964, on Radio Kashmir Srinagar. The protests turned into celebrations and people were seen bursting firecrackers and celebrating on the streets.
But at the same time, the protesters started a new protest under the slogan of ‘Produce the real culprit’.
The government announced the recovery of the holy relic, but how it was all possible was kept a secret.
Referring to Jawaharlal Nehru’s right-hand man and then intelligence chief BN Malik, author Khalid Bashir writes that ‘it was a secret operation, the details of which may never come to light.’
And that is what happened, although dozens of people faced imprisonment and torture on this charge.
The book also refers to the questions raised by the Pakistani media on the authenticity of the recovered holy relic.
In January 1964, the then President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan, said in his radio address, "May God grant that the sacred body that was recovered be genuine."
Dozens of people were taken into custody to recover the holy head, but it is still not known who the thief was (file photo).
After such statements, a long series of protests and rumors began in Kashmir.
Author Khalid Bashir has written, quoting Sampat Prakash, an active trade union leader at that time, that Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to get rid of the ruler of Kashmir, Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad, and that is why the holy head was stolen.
In his book, he claims that ‘but Pakistan got tired of it and two Pakistani secret agents reached Kashmir and took it at gunpoint from where it was kept.’
Author Khalid Bashir has quoted Sampat Prakash in his book in which he claims that after the theft of the holy hair, ‘Jawaharlal Nehru sought help from Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser to improve the situation in Kashmir, so ‘Nasser sent another holy hair from a shrine in Egypt, which was kept in Hazratbal and claimed to be the recovery of the stolen relic.’
Meanwhile, another rumor was that the Sheikh’s associates used this crisis to force India to release Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah.
Khalid Bashir writes at the end of his book that after Sheikh Abdullah's release from long imprisonment, when he returned to power on February 24, 1975, by reaching an agreement with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, his colleague described the movement demanding the identification of the accused in the theft of the holy head and a referendum as a '22-year wandering'. And thus this secret remained a secret forever.'
Related Topics
#India #Muslims #Religion #Kashmir #Demonstration #Protest #Kashmir_Issue
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